It is indeed a complicated question to answer ,especially that nowadays the airline business has become so inextricable .

In my personal opinion ,I would shortlist a bunch of ” good ” airlines that emerge from the pack ,as follows :

Singapore Airlines
Cathay Pacific
Swiss
Lufthansa

When it comes to cabin service ,care ,comfort and ambience : Singapore Airlines
When it comes to lounges on the ground : Cathay Pacific ..NOBODY COMES EVEN CLOSE to CX lounges in HKG and Asia generally
Crew professionalism and savoir faire : Swiss ,Singapore ,CX .
Reliability and network coverage : Lufthansa

Talking loyalty schemes : Krisflyer indeed generates good value for money ,unlike Lufthansa s Miles & More which is among the stingiest in the industry today .

BA Executive Club is a great scheme ,but BA itself has lost lots of its appeal to global ,non UK based travellers .

AircraftLover’s list is indeed comprehensive , and I suppose you could put this criteria under Customer Service, but for me the how an airline manages a crisis/recovery would be close if not at the top of the list.

Which is why in my personal experience BA , Turkish and Ryanair in particular drop like stones to the bottom.

Really trying to think who’d top my list under that criteria , but you really only remember when you’re let down badly rather than when a company faces up to it’s responsibility and does the right thing !!

i think it is difficult to pin on just one airline. But putting all these factors together, one has to say, its between SQ and EK. Cathay, yes. But to me, difficult to get past SQ and EK.

Further narrowing it down to polite, caring comfort and food, then it’s got to be Singapore Airlines.

Qatar is very good… but at once you get a feeling they’re always catching up with EK. EK has that overall grandeur to it. Yet, EK moves away for SQ when it comes to great warm service.

In the end, if one has ONE answer, I think its Singapore Airlines.

These days we are seeing a lot of reviews from Virgin’s customers too… sadly, I havent tried that.

It’ll be unfair not to also mention EasyJet (among the large number of intra regional airlines)… its actually an excellent product… people are great, their Captains even better, and on the whole its quite a good experience. But because of its narrow body fleet, it will never make it to the top.

For overall Business Class service, food and value, my vote would be Qatar. Understandably no North American airline has yet been mentioned, but Delta has made remarkable strides lately. Ten years ago I wouldn’t have dreamed of boarding a Delta flight, but today their overall attitude, service and comfort in Business Class challenges the likes of CX and SQ. You’ll have to try it to believe it. (And no, I don’t work for them.)

It’s a very personal and subjective question.
Defining who is the best for me depends on consistency of service across all classes, meal quality, the hard products, and respective hub.

As someone who has lived in Asia and Europe my 2019 rank for top 5 or 6 are as follow:

1. Singapore Airlines (All are top notch, but lounge could be better)
2. Cathay Pacific (All are top notch, but service ain’t as good as SQ)
3. ANA / EVA / China Airlines (all new products and services are amazing, hub ain’t as good as SIN and HKG)
4. Garuda Indonesia (Love the food and service)
5. KLM (Personally they are EU’s nicest and AMS is EU’s best. Food in lounge should be improved thou)

Understandably no North American airline has yet been mentioned, but Delta has made remarkable strides lately

BA’s travails are for obvious reasons a passion on this site, yet I have to say the decline in AC is just as sad.
Once it ruled the roost as the best North American airline, now it struggles to merit a mention on any awards site !

On the rare occasions I have been privileged enough to fly in a “C” cabin I have to say that Air Canada’s Executive Class was very, very good!
Especially the service, remaining professional and yet friendly with a approachable touch

Sadly, they introduced a premium economy cabin and made life hell for the majority, so sadly they are now no better than their southern cousins –
A real shame

For overall Business Class service, food and value, my vote would be Qatar. Understandably no North American airline has yet been mentioned, but Delta has made remarkable strides lately. Ten years ago I wouldn’t have dreamed of boarding a Delta flight, but today their overall attitude, service and comfort in Business Class challenges the likes of CX and SQ. You’ll have to try it to believe it. (And no, I don’t work for them.)

I mentioned AA. I enjoy flying with them on long haul flights very much. I know it’s not to everyones taste. But they tick several boxes for me:
– generally punctual.
– the new seat is great.
– almost all their aircraft have reliable wifi.
– the food is simple, of good quality and plentiful.
– their crew can be a mixed bag but on the whole I prefer a GENUINE quirky crew than a false robotic one. The good ones crack a joke, tell a story, have a laugh, express a genuine interest.
– they have updated many of their Flagship Lounges when are of an excellent standard.
– they are pro active in sorting out customer service issues (well have been in my experience).

Sorry but I have to plug QR.
Have just this morning early come back from a trip around Europe from the Gulf and this entailed 4 sectors by QR, 2 by EY and one by BA.
As it was a short personal trip all sectors were made in Y.
QR on mid-long distance really is the perfect airline. excellent service on the ground and in the air. Punctual, good and abundant food, plentiful wine, sweet smiling ever helpful crew with many personal welcomes and various interactions throughout the flights. The aircraft were a mixed bag, A330-200, A330-300, B777-300 and even a very full A350-1000. Obviously things are changing with the layouts (as with many airlines) but the A333 used on the DOH-HEL sector in a 2-4-2 layout is sublime. Lounges in DOH and LHR and indeed the others are all good to excellent, so for me they are the best.
I do not wish to argue with fellow forum contributors, as I do not travel to Asia/far East these days so I do not experience CX/SQ etc to compare.
I did travel 2 sectors by EY and am sorry to say they have completely lost it and are no longer comparable, perhaps to BA but to QR they are not in the field, let alone the same league.
One last comment (as this is a BA bashing site), flew HEL-LHR on the warmest Feb day in London on record, departed 4 mins late, and arrived 17 mins early chox to chox on a brand new A320neo. There are NO power supplies in the seats to charge your phones/tablets etc, NOT even on the new jalopies fresh out of Toulouse.

I personally will disagree that KA is top on the list. All subsidiary airlines like KA (Cathay Dragon) to SE Asia can delay up to 4hrs! However the service of KA&CX still remains the best. SQ lounge in MEL has literally been cutting cost and even in SIN their call centre is in India. Most annoying when you’re purchasing several biz class tickets to MEL on A380-300 with an Economy for a maid. Can be put on hold on the phone with several phone calls as well as visiting their office! Aircrew marvellous.

I will say TG has never once arrived late since even if the plane is held up, the pilot will ensure passengers get to connecting flights with time to spare. TG call centre no matter what will be based in BKK.

Someone mentioned why Virgin wasn’t up there… well for starters it was my preferred airline from LHR to the Far East, but they keep losing (either intentionally, or unintentionally) their landing slots, so as I don’t fly business to the US that often, sadly they’re missing out my business in their Upper Class by no longer flying to the Far East destinations. All my work is East not west (or very rarely), long haul.

Pity as I have a shed load of frequent flyer miles and don’t really fly to their other destinations, even for vacation. I do look at their sales, to see if they’re going anywhere I might take a vacation – sadly alas. Please bring back your Far East routes is my plea.